Great Han Empire

Chapter 707
On the sixth day, in the morning, Baling.

Flames soared into the sky, and the black smoke that covered the sky filled the entire sky of Ba Ling.

Hussar General Zhang Ji galloped up the high slope on his horse, and was terrified when he saw the fire in the direction of Ba Ling, "Order all the ministries to stop immediately, stop immediately."

Three thousand soldiers stood in the wilderness, each one trembling with fear and panic.

As the breeze blew past, a gust of scorching hot air rushed towards the face, white ashes fluttered like snowflakes, the strong burnt smell pierced through the heart and lungs, and fear invaded the entire army in an instant like the severe cold in winter.

=

Several scouts came galloping on horseback.

"My lord, the Qiang people burned Beiwu, and Ba Ling fell into a sea of ​​flames..." The scouts were sweating profusely, kneeling in front of Zhang Ji's horse out of breath, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"Qiang people?" Zhang Ji gripped the horsewhip tightly with both hands, and the muscles on his face trembled violently with anger, "Where did the Qiang people come from? Are they from Xiliang or from northern Xinjiang?"

"My lord, they are the Qiang people from northern Xinjiang." A scout led by his mouth was panting desperately, speaking intermittently, "I saw the general's black panther battle flag."

"Pound? Isn't Pound at the Changmen Pavilion?" Zhang Ji looked back at his subordinates behind him and asked doubtfully, "Could it be that the Qiang people in Xiliang took advantage of the current chaos and came Wu and Baling burned, killed and looted?"

"It's possible." Zhang Ji's lieutenant said, "No matter how courageous Pang De is, he would not dare to let the Qiang people in northern Xinjiang set fire to the royal cemetery without authorization."

"My lord, it is indeed the Qiang people from northern Xinjiang. We will never be wrong." The scout led the team and swore, "The Qiang cavalry is by the Bashui River now. Your lord can send someone to look again."

Zhang Ji looked up at the billowing smoke and dust in the sky, and sighed softly, "Forget it, don't worry about Baling, you should immediately investigate in the direction of Zhidao Pavilion, and get in touch with Cheqi General Master Li as soon as possible, and tell him that Beiwu is dead. It was burned."

"Order the army to advance quickly to the Bashui River."

=

Li Jue was furious, wishing he could eat Pang De raw.

Beiwu was burned, Ba Ling was destroyed, and Pang De led an army of iron cavalry to chase after him. Now he had no way out except to retreat to the east of the river with the emperor and the ministers.

"You forced me to go to Hedong, but I won't go." Li Jue roared loudly, leaving the panic-stricken emperor and a group of ministers in a hurry to find Jia Xu.

Just now everyone led the army to retreat in a panic, and it was a mess, and now no one can find anyone.

Li Jue didn't find Jia Xu, but bumped into Guo Si head-on.Li Jue's eyes widened angrily, pointing at Guo Si and yelling, "It's all caused by you bastard, I'm going to kill you."

Guo Bang was even more furious, shouting as if losing his mind, and was about to rush forward with his sword drawn, but Xia Yu and Gao Shuo who were following behind him hugged him tightly from left to right, "Sir, calm down, now When is the time, we can no longer kill each other."

"He wants to kill us." Guo Si was so angry that tears flowed out, "Li Jue, you bastard, what crime did Fan Chou have? Why did you kill him? Why did you take the emperor out of the palace? Why did you burn the emperor?" Chang'an City? You lunatic, if I had known today, I should have killed you with Fan Chou."

"I didn't burn Chang'an, it wasn't me." Li Jue was also hugged by Yang Feng, unable to move, "If you hadn't brought the army to threaten Chang'an, how could I have moved the emperor out of the palace? It was all because of you." People, listen to greedy words and miss a big deal. If I knew you treated me like this, I shouldn't have saved you on the battlefield in the past."

The two were blaming each other, Wang Fang and Jia Xu hurried over.

When Wang Fang saw Li Jue, he was also furious, and he was so angry that he wanted to lead others to rush up.

"Okay, okay, stop arguing, if we keep arguing, neither of us will survive." Jia Xu glared at Li Jue and Guo Si, and cursed loudly, "Do you think about how Dong Taishi died? I was fooled by others, I fell into the trap of others, can't I be sober now?"

Li Jue and Guo Si gradually calmed down.

=

"Wenhe, Beiwu was burned by Pang De, what should we do now?" Wang Fang asked.

"It's very simple. As long as we all clear up our previous suspicions, shake hands and make peace, and reorganize the army, we will have many ways to reverse the situation in Guanzhong." Jia Xu pointed to the messy soldiers and horses around him, and said angrily, "If everyone If we continue to fight each other like this, brothers even draw swords against each other, we will be finished soon, everyone should go underground to accompany Grand Master."

Li Jue, Guo Si, and Wang Fang stared at me and I stared at you, but none of them would bow their heads first.

Jia Xu shook his head, gritted his teeth, waved and said, "Since the three of you don't speak, then agree to reconcile."

The three did not speak.

"If you don't talk, then I will talk." Jia Xu looked back anxiously into the distance, "Although Pang De is bluffing, his subordinates are all barbarians. Once the situation gets out of control, the feint will turn into a bloody battle. Then we No one can run away." Then he pointed to Wang Fang and said, "You immediately regroup the army, open the way ahead, and join up with the Hussar General as soon as possible." Then he pointed to Guo Si, "You and the army are here immediately After Lord Huangfu's army retreats, the two armies will join forces to block Pound's iron cavalry for a day as much as possible."

"Block it for a day?" Guo Bang yelled, "Wenhe, it's impossible. The army of Jianshou and I only have more than 1 people together. How can we stop it?"

"It can be stopped." Jia Xu said with certainty, "Pang De's purpose is not to chase us down, but to drive us to the east of the river, so as to form a front and back attack with the general's army, but at present the general is not He knew that Beiwu had been killed and burned, and he didn't know that we were retreating eastward along the Weishui River, so Pang De didn't dare to chase us too fast, lest he push us to Tongguan and miss the opportunity to attack both front and back."

"Are we going to Tongguan?" Li Jue asked in surprise.

"Go to Tongguan." Jia Xu said loudly, "Have you forgotten your purpose? Your purpose is to make the general fight with the armies of Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Han Sui, and Ma Teng. The more fiercely they fight, the more losses they will lose." The bigger it is, the better it is for us.”

"The army of the generals has not lost much so far. Adding Huangfuhong's army and Xiliang Qiang cavalry, we should have more than 3 people. With so many troops at Tongguan, relying on the danger of the pass, we can not only Keeping the Son of Heaven safe from worries, and avoiding the great battle in Guanzhong. When the general, Yuan Shao, Han Sui and others are beaten to death for Guanzhong, and both losers, we can wait for an opportunity to counterattack and regain Guanzhong.”

"The main purpose of the general is not to serve the king, but to occupy Guanzhong. He has not led his army across the river for a long time, just to wait for the best time. For him, when is the best time? It is when the emperor escapes from danger and arrives at safety. When the emperor is safe, the general has no scruples, and he can immediately sweep the Guanzhong with the army. Guanzhong must, the emperor is also in the pocket of the general." Jia Xu looked at Li Jue and Guo Si , sneered, "Do the two adults think that after Guanzhong is occupied by the general, they still have the power to fight?"

Li Jue, Guo Si, and Wang Fang suddenly woke up.

"Pang De suddenly set fire to Baling like crazy and attacked Zhidao Pavilion just to drive us away." Li Jue punched the air and said fiercely, "Yuan Shao is the same, he also wants to drive us away. "

"Hmph, you're so smart that you thought you could use the strategy of going south to lure the armies from all walks of life to fight and force the generals into the pass. Unexpectedly, you fell into their trap." Guo Si pointed at Li Jue and cursed, "You Idiot, you have been fooled by Yuan Shao since the Chang'an mutiny last year, and you have not come to your senses until now, you..."

"You are an idiot. If you hadn't been tricked into scheming to threaten Chang'an with the army, how could we have ended up where we are today?" Li Jue retorted.

"None of us thought of this matter. Who knew that the situation in Guanzhong would be so complicated?" Jia Xu waved his hand to stop the quarrel between the two, "Actually, we should have thought about it long ago. Those who came from Guanzhong, they don’t want the emperor, but they are afraid that the emperor will die in their hands, so they do everything possible to find a way to drive us away.”

"But it's not too late to leave now." Jia Xu looked up at the sky, waved and said, "Let's protect the emperor and rush to Xinfeng City overnight."

=

"Wenhe, if the general occupies Guanzhong, what shall we do? How can we drive him away?" Li Jue, Guo Si and Wang Fang all stood still, looking at Jia Xu eagerly.This issue is too important. If there is no countermeasure, even retreating to Tongguan will lead to a dead end in the future.

"It is impossible for the general to occupy Guanzhong." Jia Xu blurted out without thinking, "Although he is a leopard, there are too many wolves in Guanzhong, so he can't eat this piece of fat."

The three of Li Jue were astonished and found it unbelievable.

"The leopard is gone, and the wolves in Guanzhong are also scarred for beating the leopard. In the end..." Jia Xu chuckled, "Guanzhong is still ours."

"Wen He, you didn't lie to us, did you?" Li Jue looked disbelieving, "It's so simple?"

"Yes." Jia Xu said, "If there is no accident, Guanzhong is still ours." Then he looked at Guo Si, "Hurry up and let the Taiwei and the ministers go back to the Tianziying, don't delay any longer. We will Withdraw Tongguan as quickly as possible, what is most needed now is concerted efforts."

Guo Si hesitated for a moment, then waved to Xia Yu who was standing beside him, "Send them back to the Tianzi Camp."

=

The sixth day, night.

Pound led [-] cavalry to line up on the west bank of the Bashui River, ready to go.

Huangfuhong and Guo Si led more than 1 people to line up on the east bank of the Bashui River, ready to fight.

The Baling Mausoleum is still burning in the fire, but the fire has become smaller and smaller, and the firelight shines on the soldiers of both sides, gradually burning the murderous aura on the battlefield to the limit.

Huangfuhong rode alone, rode his horse across the pontoon bridge on the river, and stopped his horse on the embankment.

"Ling Ming, do you want to see him?" Wei Jun asked.

"Don't go, we have given Huangfu Hong enough face today." Kuang Fengsha said bitterly, "He has been leading the army to stand in front of us. It took us a whole day from morning to night, and we only walked for three days. Shili. This favor is big enough, what else does he want? Could it be that he told us to quit Guanzhong, and we also listened?"

Pang De laughed, turned to Liu Ming and said, "Where is Yuan Shao's army?"

"Yuan Shao's vanguard has arrived at Changmen Pavilion." Liu Ming replied.Today he led the Xiongnu iron cavalry to the back, and joined the army after dark.

"Where's the Xiliang Army?"

"After the Xiliang army chased after Zhidao Pavilion, they immediately turned around and headed northward, heading towards Chang'an." Liu Ming said, "It seems that they are all waiting to clean up the mess."

"Hmph..." Pound snorted coldly, then lightly kicked the horse's belly, and rode the horse towards the embankment.

=

"Ling Ming, how can you set fire to the cemetery? This is a capital offense." Huangfu Hong immediately accused Pound when he saw Pang De, "Do you have a military order from the general? Did you order the cemetery to be burned without authorization? You burned the cemetery , you are not the only one who has been convicted, but also the general, do you know?"

"What I burned was Beiwu, not the cemetery." Pound frowned slightly, and said dissatisfiedly, "If you had brought the emperor to Hedong to avoid disaster earlier, why would I order Beiwu to be burned?"

"You have committed the crime of burning the Baling Mausoleum." Huangfu Hong sighed regretfully, "The emperor has decreed that the army should retreat towards the east of the river. Are you satisfied now?"

"Really?" Pang De was overjoyed, and hurriedly asked, "Li Jue and Guo Si all agree?"

Huangfu Hong nodded, "This is the end of the matter, so what if we disagree? When we arrive at Hedong, the emperor will be safe, and then we will wait for the general to sweep through Guanzhong."

Pang De smiled, "I will immediately report to the General and ask him to send a boat to Zheng County to pick him up."

"I'm afraid it's too late." Huangfu Hong said, "The Son of Heaven will arrive at Xinfeng tonight, and he will reach Zheng County in two days. The general will definitely not have time to send a boat to meet him."

"Your Majesty Huangfu, please ask the emperor to rest in Zheng County for a few more days." Pang De cupped his hands and said, "I will lead [-] cavalry to stop the pursuers here."

=

On the eighth day of the fifth lunar month, Zhengcheng.

Zhang Ji and Wang Fang rushed to the city with their troops.

The city gate of Zhengcheng was wide open, the banners were fluttering on the city, and the soldiers came and went to patrol, everything was normal.

Zhang Ji heaved a long sigh of relief, smiled and said to Wang Fang: "After passing Zhengcheng, we will arrive at Huayin after walking more than 100 miles. As long as we reach Huayin, we will be safe."

"The general is still in Hedong, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that the general will bring an army to snatch the emperor?" Wang Fang waved the horsewhip in his hand, laughing, "Wen He said that the general does not want the emperor, he only wants us Run to Tongguan early and give Guanzhong to him."

"I think Wen He's idea is a bit wrong." Zhang Ji hesitated for a moment, and said to Wang Fang, "The general led the army to fight Yuan Shao and Han Sui in a bloody battle under the city of Chang'an, and when they are both injured, we will go to take advantage of it. How can there be such a good thing? The general can't think of what we want? If it were you, what would you do?"

Seeing Zhang Ji's serious face, Wang Fang was embarrassed to ridicule him, so he lowered his head and thought for a while, "If I were a general, I would grab the emperor first, and then kill all the bastards like Li Jue and Guo Si. Now that my worries are gone, I will fight Yuan Shao and Han Sui again."

"I think so too." Zhang Ji said worriedly, "Wen He always said that the general Qin Wang is a fake, but the general has always respected the current emperor, and has been paying taxes to the court for the past two years. When Guanzhong was hit by a disaster, he In accordance with the will of the emperor, he spared no effort to send relief money and food to Guanzhong. You said, how could the general King Qin be a fake? If the general does not want to be king, then what is he doing to pay taxes to the court and send relief to Guanzhong?"

The more Wang Fang thought about it, the more uneasy he became, "Why didn't you say these words earlier? If the general quietly sends troops to occupy Huayin City or Zheng City before us, we will be unable to fly."

"I'm just guessing." Zhang Ji sighed, "They finally shook hands and agreed to join forces and take the emperor to Tongguan for refuge. They ambushed us in the area of ​​Zhengcheng and Huayin City, so how could they come to Tongguan? This is not an accident, just looking for trouble. Forget it, forget it, just let fate."

Wang Fang nodded, "Wen He avoids the important and ignores the minor. He deliberately concealed the possibility of the general ambush us, and tried his best to encourage us to take the emperor to Tongguan for refuge. It is probably out of consideration for the overall situation. But..." He said luckily, "Maybe, we It's unfounded to worry about, Wen He's guess may be right. After all, the general is a person, not a god, and he can't be exhaustive in everything."

At this moment, there was a sudden sound of drums in the city of Zhengcheng, and three puffs of wolf smoke rose into the sky and went straight to the sky.

Zhang Ji and Wang Fang's expressions changed drastically, they looked at me and I looked at you, they were extremely shocked.

=

Yu Du rode alone and wandered slowly out of the city.

He is a school lieutenant, he should get off his horse and salute when he sees Hussar General Zhang Ji and Zhenxi General Wang Fang, but he turns his eyes to the sky and ignores them.

Zhang Ji, Wang Fang and the generals of the Northern Frontier Army fought against each other many times. They knew most of the Northern Frontier Generals in Kansai and Hedong, but they didn't know this man.Zhang Ji was startled and felt that the general's saber was out of its sheath.He kicked the horse's belly fiercely, and the horse hissed in pain, galloping forward.

"I am Zhang Ji, the great general of hussars, who is your subordinate?"

Yu Du coughed, looked at him, coughed a few more times, and said slowly, "My name is Yu Du, a small lieutenant under the general's tent."

Yu Du's voice was not loud, but it reached Zhang Ji's ears like a thunderclap, which made him startled, his thick eyebrows furrowed together, and a trace of murderous intent appeared in his eyes.Yu Du used to be the leader of the Yellow Turban Army in Montenegro, famous for his rebellion all over the world.The general asked him to lead an army to surprise Zhengcheng and prevent the emperor from going east to Tongguan. It is not clear what his intention is.The general really wanted to kill someone.

"I have admired you for a long time..." Zhang Ji bowed his hands in salute regardless of his own status, "Master Yu's name is really impressive, I can see you today, Sansheng is lucky, Sansheng is lucky..."

Yu Du had no expression on his face, his eyes were almost narrowed, his face was full of disdain, and he didn't say a word.

Zhang Ji was very bored, his anger couldn't help rising, and his tone immediately became serious, "The Emperor's chariot is driving east to Tongguan, you open the city quickly to meet him. By the way, Yuan Shao's army has already chased Ba Ling, and is fighting Huwei General Pang De Confrontation, you lead the army to support immediately."

Yu Du sneered, "I am ordered by the General to meet the Son of Heaven here and escort the Son of Heaven by boat to Hedong." Then he opened his eyes suddenly and shouted, "Where is the Son of Heaven?"

Zhang Ji was so angry that he gritted his teeth, and the hand holding the knife kept shaking, wishing he could rush up and chop this rampant traitor with his knife.General, you are too ruthless, you actually let a yellow scarf rebel escort you.You are not trying to be king, you are trying to kill the king.Even if I die in battle today, I will not hand over the Son of Heaven to Yu Poison.

"Yu Du, take your army and leave Zhengcheng, I will spare you."

"Where is the Son of Heaven?"

"I'll say it again, make way for me immediately."

"Where is the Son of Heaven?"

"Yu Du, since you want to die, then I will fulfill you."

"Okay." Yu Du violently raised his hand and roared, "If you don't hand over the emperor, you will never go any further."

Yu Du turned his horse's head, beat the horse and flew towards the city, "Close the city gate, let's fight for life and death..."

=

Zhang Ji and Wang Fang stood side by side on the high slope, looking at the various armies preparing to attack the city, their expressions were very nervous.

"With this fight, we will completely tear ourselves apart from the general. If the general rushes forward with an army of tens of thousands, what shall we do?" Wang Fang swallowed hard, hesitating, "If the emperor dies, the general It can be said that we killed it, or it can be said that the Yellow Turban Army rebelled and was killed by the remnants of the Yellow Turban Army. Anyway, he didn’t kill it, and it has nothing to do with him, so I think it’s better not to fight. If we don’t fight, we can rely on the emperor Threatening the general."

"Don't fight? Is it okay not to fight?" Zhang Ji pointed to the big flag flying high on the tower, and said angrily, "That's the Yellow Turban Army, it's the Yellow Turban Army. If we don't fight him, he will beat us. No matter who comes first If you do it, the general will lead his army to kill us, he has made up his mind to kill us. Jia Wen and that bastard killed us this time."

Scouts came from everywhere on horseback.

On the Weishui River to the north of Zhengcheng, hundreds of warships of the Northern Xinjiang Army are docking, including five large ships that can carry more than a thousand people.It is only forty miles from the ferry to Zhengcheng. In the middle of the night, the reinforcements of the Northern Xinjiang Army can rush to the city.

In the high mountains to the south of Zhengcheng, the flag of the Northern Frontier Army can be seen faintly. It is not known whether it is an ambush by the Northern Frontier Army or a suspicious strategy of the Northern Frontier Army.

Zhang Ji turned around on the hillside with his hands behind his back.Zheng Cheng was tall and strong, and the number of defenders on the tower would not be less than [-]. It seemed a bit of a dream to capture the city before midnight.

"Go back to Xinfeng City." Wang Fang sat on the grass, bewildered.

"It's too late." Zhang Ji waved his hand and said, "I'm sure, as long as Guo Bang's men leave Xinfeng City, Xinfeng City will fall into Pound's hands immediately." He looked up at the mountains in the distance, and sighed to the sky, " There are strong enemies in front, pursuers behind, Weishui in the north, and mountains in the south, so we have come to a dead end."

"We have more than 3 people and can't keep one emperor?" Wang Fang casually pulled a weed from the ground, chewed it in his mouth, "Now Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Han Sui, and Ma Teng's [-] troops are here. Near Chang'an, the general dares to mobilize [-] troops to attack us at this time? If the northern army is entangled by us, and Yuan Shao and Han Sui take the opportunity to lead the army to cover up and kill them, how will the northern army respond to the enemy? The general is not afraid that he will be defeated in Guanzhong. From now on, you can't recover from it?"

Zhang Ji smiled wryly, "The general doesn't have to use force if he wants to kill us."

"We have too little food and supplies. As long as the general surrounds us between Xinfeng City and Zhengcheng, we will be trapped to death within a month."

"The soldiers have no food to eat, and they will immediately become chaotic. The thousands of Qiang people will turn against each other first. They followed Han Sui to Guanzhong to ask for money and food. They have nothing to eat and drink. Why are they still following us? The second is us. Myself. Everyone is already full of conflicts. When facing the moment of death, who will take care of the emperor? Will he take care of the brotherhood of the past? It is strange not to kill each other, not to betray each other. At that time, the general will not need to do anything. will wipe us out."

Wang Fang stared at Zhang Ji with wide eyes, with a trace of fear in his eyes, "The general is too cruel." Wang Fang cursed a few words bitterly, and then chewed the weeds in his mouth.Due to too much force and too fast movement, the teeth suddenly bit down on the cheek.Wang Fang cried out in pain, and spit out the weeds in his mouth.The chewed and rotten grass stalks fell on the green grass together with the scarlet blood, which was very eye-catching.

Looking at the bloodstain, Zhang Ji and Wang Fang were horrified.

"Fight." Zhang Ji stomped his feet and shouted loudly, "Siege the city for me."

"Urgently tell Li Jue and Guo Si to speed up and come to help quickly."

"Send people over the mountain, ask Tongguan for help, and ask Zhang Xiu to defend Huayin City at all costs."

=

On the eighth day of May, at dusk, Hongmen Pavilion.

The sunset is picturesque.

Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Jiang Wu, and Mustafa rode lightly on their horses and galloped across the mountains, raising their whips and laughing, talking in high spirits.

"Brother Fengxian, look, they are here..." Zhao Yun stopped his horse, pointed to a puff of smoke rising in the distance, and said happily, "Let me introduce you to some warriors from the desert."

Pang De, Wei Jun, Liu Ming, Kuang Fengsha and Nie Xiao rushed all the way with their personal guards.

Some of Zhao Yun, Pang De, Wei Jun and other generals of the frontier county have not seen each other for many years, and some have been separated for a year and a half.

"Zilong, when did you arrive in Guanzhong?" Pound asked in surprise, "Aren't you in Jizhou?"

"The general asked me to come. I have to travel day and night even if I don't eat or sleep." Zhao Yun laughed.

"When did you cross the river? Why haven't I heard anything about it?"

"The general wants us to travel day and night along the north bank of the Weishui River. We deliberately concealed our whereabouts. Of course you don't know."

"Xinfengcheng has been taken?" Wei Jun asked.

"It's taken." Zhao Yun said, "Tomorrow, Master Qu Yi will bring an army to join us in Xinfeng City."

"Where's the general?"

"The general is in Kansai."

"In Kansai?" Pound and the generals looked at each other in dismay.

=

Book friend King Snake Eyes recommended a book called "Spring and Autumn Under Heaven", which is a historical story about the Spring and Autumn Period. This book has more than 200 million words and was written by a Guangdong writer. It will be uploaded within two weeks.It's very beautiful, and I recommend everyone to watch it.

(End of this chapter)